On May 17, 1954, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Earl Warren delivered the unanimous ruling in the landmark civil rights case Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas. State-sanctioned segregation of public schools was a violation of the 14th Amendment and was therefore unconstitutional. This historic decision marked the end of the "separate but equal" precedent set by the Supreme Court nearly 60 years earlier and served as a catalyst for the expanding civil rights movement during the decade of the 1950s.
In September 1953, President Eisenhower appointed Earl Warren, governor of California, the new Supreme Court chief justice. Eisenhower believed Warren would follow a moderate course of action toward desegregation; his feelings regarding the appointment are detailed in the closing paragraphs of the second featured document, Letter from President Eisenhower to E. E. "Swede" Hazlett. In his brief to the Warren Court that December, Thurgood Marshall described the separate but equal ruling as erroneous and called for an immediate reversal under the 14th Amendment. He argued that it allowed the government to prohibit any state action based on race, including segregation in public schools. The defense countered this interpretation pointing to several states that were practicing segregation at the time they ratified the 14th Amendment. Surely they would not have done so if they had believed the 14th Amendment applied to segregation laws. The U.S. Department of Justice also filed a brief; it was in favor of desegregation but asked for a gradual changeover.
'No Job for a Race Horse' Democrat (Arkansas), May 22, 1954. Tasks:
Using the textbook Salmond J & Newell K, 2009, The Civil Rights Movement, History Program La Trobe University, Melbourne.
Background Information
On May 17, 1954, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Earl Warren delivered the unanimous ruling in the landmark civil rights case Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas. State-sanctioned segregation of public schools was a violation of the 14th Amendment and was therefore unconstitutional. This historic decision marked the end of the "separate but equal" precedent set by the Supreme Court nearly 60 years earlier and served as a catalyst for the expanding civil rights movement during the decade of the 1950s.
In September 1953, President Eisenhower appointed Earl Warren, governor of California, the new Supreme Court chief justice. Eisenhower believed Warren would follow a moderate course of action toward desegregation; his feelings regarding the appointment are detailed in the closing paragraphs of the second featured document, Letter from President Eisenhower to E. E. "Swede" Hazlett. In his brief to the Warren Court that December, Thurgood Marshall described the separate but equal ruling as erroneous and called for an immediate reversal under the 14th Amendment. He argued that it allowed the government to prohibit any state action based on race, including segregation in public schools. The defense countered this interpretation pointing to several states that were practicing segregation at the time they ratified the 14th Amendment. Surely they would not have done so if they had believed the 14th Amendment applied to segregation laws. The U.S. Department of Justice also filed a brief; it was in favor of desegregation but asked for a gradual changeover.
(http://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/brown-v-board/)
Defender (Chicago), June 12, 1954
'No Job for a Race Horse' Democrat (Arkansas), May 22, 1954.
Tasks:
Using the textbook Salmond J & Newell K, 2009, The Civil Rights Movement, History Program La Trobe University, Melbourne.